UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has accepted the resignation of Henrietta Fore as executive director of UNICEF “with deep regret” and expressed his full understanding of her decision to resign. Through a statement released by his spokesman on Tuesday, Guterres thanked Fore her “inspiring leadership of UNICEF and for her service to improve the lives of […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus slammed plans by Pfizer and Moderna, as well as a handful of rich countries, to begin offering ‘booster’ COVID vaccines to some groups of people – saying that the world has evolved a “dangerous” two-tiered system of vaccinations, driven by greed instead of enlightened self-interest. “It’s becoming a […] Continue reading ->
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has signed advanced purchase agreements (APAs) with Sinopharm and Sinovac, Chinese biotech firms, to immediately begin supplying the global COVAX Facility with 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the agency announced on Monday. The agreements come as the Delta variant, first identified in India and classified as a WHO variant of […] Continue reading ->
Human genome editing has great potential to improve health and serve as a tool for public health, according to two landmark WHO reports, the world’s first to issue global recommendations on the safe, effective, and ethical use of human genome editing. “These new reports from WHO’s Expert Advisory Committee represent a leap forward for this […] Continue reading ->
The Lambda variant has now been found in 29 different countries, seven of them in Latin America and it is the dominant strain in Peru. The Lambda variant, or the C.37 strain, designated a variant of interest by the WHO on 15 June 2021, was first identified in Peru in August 2020. It is widespread […] Continue reading ->
Nearly half of the 31 European nations using the European Union’s new digital COVID travel certificate have recognized the India-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield, alongside its European-made counterpart, Vaxzevria, an analysis by Health Policy Watch has revealed. But other major countries, including France, Poland, and Italy, seem to be holding out, authorizing only […] Continue reading ->
As Africa recorded its worst pandemic week, the COVAX Facility announced on Thursday that it has taken steps to quickly resume the delivery of vaccines to African countries including diversifying its portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines. Aurélia Nguyen, Managing Director of the COVAX Facility based at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said the COVAX portfolio now consists […] Continue reading ->
Though the Americas is the only World Health Organization (WHO) region that is reporting a slight decline in new COVID-19 cases this week, countries in Central and South America, Canada and Mexico are still experiencing rising rates of infection. Over 1.1 million new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Americas over the last week, officials […] Continue reading ->
WHO urged high income countries in Europe and elsewhere to reconsider the reopening of mass events, and keep strict social distancing rules in place – in the wake of a surge in COVID cases almost everywhere but Latin America. They spoke at a press briefing on the day that the world passed the tragic milestone […] Continue reading ->
As many high-income countries are relaxing restrictions for the summer months, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are witnessing rises in cases, deaths, and overwhelmed hospitals. Countries in Europe and the United States are increasingly allowing in travellers, ending mask mandates, and allowing large gatherings including football matches and concerts. At the same time, the third […] Continue reading ->